Archbishop Antonio Maria Vegliò, President of the Vatican Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, at an interview Friday to Vatican Radio, highlighted the World Refugee Day to be celebrated on Monday June 20th. World Refugee Day this year coincides with the 60th anniversary of the foundation of the United Nations High Commission for Refugee- U.N.H.C.R, and the adoption of the 1951 Geneva Convention on Refugees. UNHCR has been assisting millions of refugees over the last sixty years, and has become a permanent organisation. It has became responsible for refugees worldwide. The Church , the Archbishop assured, is present with refugees and the internally displaced in many different ways. Many religious congregations got individual members involved, while others joined the Jesuit Refugee Service founded in 1980 by Father Arrupe, Superior General of the Jesuits to respond to the needs of the Vietnamese boat people, refugees fleeing from Vietnam. A special role is played by the International Catholic Migration Commission. More than one million people have been resettled. In addition, Caritas, both at diocesan level or national level, is assisting in many different ways, from emergency aid to direct involvement in managing refugee camps. The ongoing conflict in Abjei, and the situation in Darfur are major concerns. The real challenge however is in northern Africa, especially in Tunisia and Egypt. More than one million left Libya, of which 15,000 arrived in Italy. One has to see the problem in proportion. Tunisia, welcomed half a million persons of which 290,000 are Libyans. Egypt faced the arrival of 340,000 persons of which 161,000 are Libyans.
Name: Aida Hadziahmetovic. Country of origin: Bosnia and Herzegovina. Country of asylum: Slovenia. Reason(s) of this country of asylum: Family remark and hope: I hope that my children will be not forced to go from slovenia, to live in peace.
The UN Refugee Agency UNHCR is launching globally a six-month campaign aimed at promoting public awareness of the stories of individual refugees and others forcibly displaced people.
As part of its 60th anniversary activities, UNHCR has teamed up with the prestigious Magnum Photos to celebrate the lives of refugees and their impact on Europe over the past six decades.
The light show "60 Years, 60 Lives," is appearing in cities across Europe as the annual World Refugee Day (June 20) approaches. It also pays tribute to the humanitarian achievements in Europe over the past 60 years.
The photos in the light show include six images of former refugees across Europe taken by Magnum photographers Antoine D'Agata and Moises Saman – one per decade. The remaining 54 images were provided by refugees who found sanctuary in Europe and each tells a story, condensed into one detail: the violin brought from home, their first document as a refugee, a family snap.
Venues for the light show include the façade of Malta's Fort St. Angelo, the Museumsquartier in Vienna and the Metro system in Rome as well as bars and restaurants in Brussels.
The show will also be projected against the EU Parliament building in Brussels on World Refugeee Day on 20 June. A special showing is planned for members of the European Council and senior European Union officials in the Belgian capital, while thousands of children from around the world will get to see "60 Years, 60 Lives" during the World Scout Jamboree in Sweden later this year.
Today, refugees and asylum-seekers are often portrayed in a negative light in Europe. Some politics and media refer to refugees as a burden or a security threat.
- This project aims at reframing the asylum debate. Tens of million of Europeans today are the children and grandchildren of refugees," said Hanne Mathisen, UNHCR's spokesperson in the Baltic and Nordic countries.
The history of Europe as a safe haven for refugees is told in more detail on a special web site created by UNHCR and Magnum Photos and launched this week. The site includes details about the refugees depicted in the photographs, such as Jozsef Bøhm, who fled to with his mother to Norway after the uprising in Hungary in 1956, and Mampuya Mindoco, who fled the Democratic Republic of Congo some 22 years ago, and who after a difficult journey eventually found refuge in Sweden.
Magnum is a cooperative photographic agency founded by legends Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger and David "Chim" Seymour just three years before UNHCR in 1947. Magnum photographers have documented practically every refugee crisis that UNHCR has been involved in. Some of the most iconic Magnum pictures show refugees.
